Raptors Rumors: Once-coveted free agent could be stuck signing a minimum deal

The Toronto Raptors have had something of a quietly busy offseason, not making any major changes but agreeing to new deals with a few key players and restocking the back-half of the roster.

One decision they appear to have made is not to bring back Gary Trent Jr. at seemingly any price. The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that the Raptors never made an offer to Trent to return this offseason. Instead, Toronto turned to other options and Trent is going to be playing for a new team next season, barring a truly unexpected midnight reversal.

On the one hand, Trent is drumming up plenty of interest from other teams. The Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks have all been referenced in connection to Trent, and Charania's latest report mentioned the Milwaukee Bucks as an interested team.

Gary Trent Jr. is taking a paycut

The problem for Trent, however, comes with the financial flexibility of the aforementioned teams. The Lakers have to move money just to offer Trent a contract, at which point the cost is likely not worth it. The Denver Nuggets would love to sign Trent as a nominal Kentavious Caldwell-Pope replacement, but they can only offer the minimum.

Reporting came out that Trent would not sign with the Nuggets on a minimum deal, but the problem is that there may not be a better offer waiting on the table for Trent. The Milwaukee Bucks getting into the mix means they genuinely believe Trent could sign somewhere at the minimum; as a second-apron team, that's all they can offer to free agents.

The Bucks are an interesting possibility because Trent may even start at shooting guard despite being signed to a minimum contract. Perhaps a one-year prove-it deal is enticing for Trent, along the lines of what Donte DiVincenzo signed two years ago and subsequently parlayed into a long-term deal with the New York Knicks.

Unfortunately for Trent, he tried that already this past season, and instead of unlocking a pay raise Trent is looking minimum contracts in the face. Once you're a "minimum" player it can be hard to return to making 8-figures annually. Yet the options for him to make more are dwindling quickly.

The 25-year-old wing wasn't terrible this past season; he just didn't stand out at all, and played on a team that lost games in droves down the stretch. You have to be extremely good to shake the stink of a losing season like that. It's a real questiona s to how much Trent drives winning, and it has led to a cold, quiet market in free agency.

If Paul George has stayed with the LA Clippers, and Caldwell-Pope hadn't come to Orlando but had re-signed in Denver, there would have been significantly more money on the market and Trent may have found himself landing that payday. Perhaps the 76ers elect to keep De'Anthony Melton and the Warriors offer the Mid-Level Exception. Or perhaps the Magic use their cap space to offer him a deal north of $15 million per season.

The payday that Trent wanted, upwards of $25 million per season, was never going to happen. A deal at or just above the MLE was very much in play, but things have shaken out in such a way that Trent is standing in the cold.

A minimum contract may be the only source of warmth he is offered. At some point, he may just have to take it.